Theodore sorensen jfk inaugural speech transcript
Written by: Brian Domitrovic, Sam Houston State University
By the end of this section, you will:
- Explain the various military and diplomatic responses to international developments over time
- Explain the causes and effects of continuing policy debates about the role of the federal government over time
President John F. Kennedy&#;s inaugural address on January 20, , remains one of the most widely recognized examples of presidential oratory. Kennedy&#;s speech was brief and thematic, using paradoxical turns of phrase that suggested poignancy and a new perspective on the meaning of political participation. Several phrases that appeared in the address entered into the national vocabulary. The speech&#;s main points were to encourage public service and provide an expansive foreign policy vision for Cold War America.
Kennedy began preparing his inaugural address in earnest in the closing weeks of his transition into office, in early January He asked his confidant and advisor, Theodore Sorensen, to help him draft it. The president-elect was aware that his victory in the election the previous November had been narrow (the popular-vote margin was two-tenths of 1 percent) and that his campaign had been characterized by generalities rather than specifics. However, he opted to prepare an inaugural address that would continue to appeal to general principles rather than specific policies. He also wanted to look to the future with hope and optimism for a rising generation of Americans. He asked Sorensen whether he could identity the &#;secret&#; of Lincoln&#;s Gettysburg Address and draft a speech draft with that in mind.
Sorensen concluded that an important characteristic of Lincoln&#;s address was the preference for small words and short phrases that could capture a point more profoundly than long, wordy passages. Kennedy said he wanted his address to be one of the briefest of presidential inaugurals, and he wanted it to give foreign policy precedence over domestic p
Who Wrote JFK’s Inaugural?
In my childhood imagination, John F. Kennedy slotted somewhere below DiMaggio and above De Niro in a loose ranking of latter-day American deities. When I was just a toddler, the late president left a lasting impression on me, literally, after I pulled a terracotta reproduction of Robert Berks’ iconic sculpture—weighing considerably less, thankfully, than the 3,pound original—down from a sideboard and onto my head. On my bedroom wall hung two plaques, one a list of “coincidences”—many trivial, some factually incorrect—between the political careers and assassinations of Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln. The other, also arguably incorrect, was a portrait of Kennedy embossed on black metal, staring out above his famous entreaty in all caps:
“ASK NOT WHAT YOUR COUNTRY
CAN DO FOR YOU …
ASK WHAT YOU CAN DO
FOR YOUR COUNTRY.”
J.F.K.
It’s no secret that presidents often speak words they themselves did not write. When George Washington delivered the very first inaugural address, on Apr. 30, , he was reading from a reworked draft composed by his friend and frequent ghostwriter James Madison. In , with the country on the brink of civil war, Lincoln pitched his address to a restive South and planned to end on the crudely formed question, “Shall it be peace or sword?” That is, until his soon-to-be Secretary of State William Seward suggested a less combative, more poetic conjuring of “mystic chords” and “the guardian angel of the nation,” which Lincoln then uncrossed and altered to “the better angels of our nature.” Small matter, perhaps. We don’t require that our politicians be great writers, after all, only effective communicators, and they in turn sometimes benefit from a misattribution in perpetuity of someone else’s eloquence.
In Kennedy’s case, the gift of rhetoric was owed largely to his longtime counsel and legislative aide, Ted Sorensen, who later became his principal speechwriter after the two developed a simpatico understand
Ted Sorensen on the Kennedy Style of Speech-Writing
In his final book, Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History (), Ted Sorensen offered a prediction:
"I have little doubt that, when my time comes, my obituary in the New York Times ( misspelling my last name once again) will be captioned: 'Theodore Sorenson, Kennedy Speechwriter.'"
On November 1, , the Times got the spelling right: "Theodore C. Sorensen, 82, Kennedy Counselor, Dies." And though Sorensen did serve as a counselor and alter ego to John F. Kennedy from January to November 22, , "Kennedy Speechwriter" was indeed his defining role.
A graduate of the University of Nebraska's law school, Sorensen arrived in Washington, D.C. "unbelievably green," as he later admitted. "I had no legislative experience, no political experience. I'd never written a speech. I'd hardly been out of Nebraska."
Nevertheless, Sorensen was soon called on to help write Senator Kennedy's Pulitzer Prize-winning book Profiles in Courage (). He went on to co-author some of the most memorable presidential speeches of the last century, including Kennedy's inaugural address, the "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, and the American University commencement address on peace.
Though most historians agree that Sorensen was the primary author of these eloquent and influential speeches, Sorensen himself maintained that Kennedy was the "true author." As he said to Robert Schlesinger, "If a man in a high office speaks words which convey his principles and policies and ideas and he's willing to stand behind them and take whatever blame or therefore credit go with them, [the speech is] his" (White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters, ).
In Kennedy, a book published two years after the president's assassination, Sorensen spelled out some of the distinctive qualities of the "Kennedy style of speech-writing." You'd be hard-pressed to find a more sensible list of tips for speakers.
While our own Download this lesson plan, including handouts, as a pdf. Goals/Rationale John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address inspired children and adults to see the importance of civic action and public service. His historic words, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” challenged every American to contribute in some way to the public good. In this lesson, students learn about a theme in President Kennedy’s inaugural address, civic action, and consider how it applies to their own lives. Essential Question: How does a leader inspire a nation or a group of people? Objectives Students will be able to: Prior Knowledge and Skills Students should be familiar with the concept of the inauguration of a president (see Additional Resources). A biography of John F. Kennedy is available here. There is a link to President Kennedy’s inaugural address on this page. Historical Background and Context On January 20, , a clerk of the US Supreme Court held the large Fitzgerald family Bible as John F. Kennedy took the oath of office to become the nation’s 35th president. Against a backdrop of deep snow and sunshine, more than twenty thousand people huddled in degree temperatures on the east front of the Capitol to witness the event. Kennedy, having removed his topcoat and projecting both youth and vigor, delivered what has become a landmark inaugural address. His audience reached far beyond those gathered before him to people around the world. In preparing for this moment, he sought both to inspire the nation and to send a message abroad signaling the challenges of the Cold War a
"Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You"
Overview
Preparation